November 7, 2012

Dear Colette, you've been telling me for years to trace my patterns rather than cutting out my size, and I, as a lazy sewer, ignored you. Now I know I should have heeded your advice. I'm working on cutting several patterns right now, many that I have already used, and I realize I've changed sizes so much that I've had to re-cut or re-trace nearly all these patterns. Ooops. I've learned my lesson. From now on I'm a tracer, not a cutter.Thanks, Dixie

The Goal: Earlier this year I analyzed my wardrobe and found that one of my "needs" was "church appropriate" dresses. Garments that I rarely wear but when an event comes up like a wedding you really need something nice.

These dresses used to be my Anouk dress and my Macaron from last October. One was summery, the other winter. Perfect! I could check that one off the "need" list.

But now both of them don't fit. They're too big. And not in a way that I could easily fix by sewing up the sides. I am so sad about this! I LOVED both of these dresses! They were my favorites and I wore them regularly even when I wasn't going to a wedding.

So two weekends ago when I had to go to a wedding I was at a loss. I didn't have enough time to make a new dress and I didn't have any other "nice" dresses that would work for a night-time, chilly, fall wedding. I gave in and bought a sweater dress at Target!! Shocking! I know, I'm so ashamed!

I figured I should stop moping about my loss of my former Macaron and make another. And here she is!

The Pattern: Colette's Macaron, and probably my fave Colette pattern of them all. I love the sweetheart neckline and the cute sleeve detail and the nifty pocket placement!

The Fabric: I made this dress on a whim so it was good that I had this stuff in my stash. The top is leftover Swiss Dot from this Burda Blouse and the floral is a pretty cotton lawn (I kind of echoed the style of my original Macaron). Both fabrics are from Fabricker in Austin but you can also buy the fabrics online!

The Changes: Not much. The pattern calls for a facing for the neckline but I lined the whole yoke instead. I used plain white batiste for the yoke and sleeve lining.

The Results: I made a size 10 the last time I made this pattern and it was a little bit too big. This time I made a 2 and it's maybe a wee bit too small. Next time I'll do a four. Hopefully that'll be the Goldilocks zone. But it's still very wearable and I think it's super cute! Success!

This is so cute I love the material! So funny that's why I love PDF patterns cause you can just cut it instead of tracing them out it takes sooo long! I'm sure you will be able to work it out on the ones you have. That's a good sign your clothes getting too big I'd say that's an awesome win. I'm keeping clothes that are too small for me hoping that I will one day fit back into them lol. Give you a good excuse to make some new pretty dresses like this one!

thanks :) yeah, i still cut out printed patterns because i figure i could always just cut out another copy. it's still a bummer, tho, to see clothes i've worked so hard on but now i can't wear them. oh well, time to move on!

Some of my me-mades are too big now, but only because I didn't properly stabilize the waistbands or whatever. Your Macaron (auto-corrected to Macaroni on the iPhone) is adorable but makes me shiver. It's sleeting and windy here right now, so my floral dresses are taking a nap in my closet :(

What a fab dress!!! I have had this pattern in my stash for ages because I just love all the versions I have seen...I'm just struggling on what fabric to use for the yoke section. Love your idea of using swiss dot!

thanks! i want to try a version in a velvet or a brocade or something with a sheer organza-type yoke. I've seen some cool versions with stripes or plaids with the yoke fabric going in a contrasting direction.

I nearly never trace either. I am so lazy. I regret it now, because this amazing shirt I made my husband now doesn't fit him, and I'd like to make the next size up. But it's a McCall's pattern, so wouldn't tracing destroy it anyway? All those little perforations in the fine tissue paper?

you know, after making this i noticed that the waistline is kind of high. not all the way to an empire waist but higher than a natural waist. but with the pleats in the front i think this dress might work for early maternity (for later maternity you'd have to do a lot of design mods). i know you're already several months along but your comment made me think of that. ;) thanks kelli!

i'm slowly switching over to tracing as well (unless i'm in a hurry and know that i can always re-purchase when a 99 cent sale comes around!). i broke down and bought a 50 yard roll of tracing paper recently, so that helps.

i love your macaron, and the fabric you used is beautiful! this is definitely my favorite colette pattern.

I like your previous macaron and this version too. I like how you've used a solid coloured fabric with a print. You have a good eye for colour.I'm also a lazy sewer but I value multi size patterns because my size changes a lot.Now to check out Victory patterns. Cheers.